This invention relates to a method of forming potato patties and to the improved potato patties formed thereby.
Current commercially available frozen potato patties are usually prepared by peeling potatoes, cutting them into strips, cooking the strips in water or steam, optionally drying the strips to remove any surface moisture, further cutting the strips into much smaller pieces, mixing the small, cut up pieces of potatoes with other ingredients such as flavorings and binders, forming the mixture into a patty, cooking the formed patty in oil and then freezing the patty. The frozen patties are finally cooked for consumption by baking, deep frying or grilling. Although these frozen potato patties are satisfactory in many respects, they tend to become very rubbery when final cooked in a microwave oven and when toasted in a toaster they tend to seep excessive amounts of oil. Moreover, because the potatoes are cut up so finely, usually much less than 1/4 inch in maximum dimension, much of the potato flavor is lost.
Notwithstanding the success of the frozen potato patties now in commercial use, there has been a long term need to provide frozen potato patties which can retain considerably more of the potato flavor than the prior potato patties and moreover to provide potato patties which can not only be final cooked by baking, deep frying and grilling but also by heating in a microwave oven and toasting in a conventional toaster. The potato patties of the invention satisfy these needs.